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Why is the "VT" TOC code used for ferries using Heysham Port?

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ainsworth74

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Almost certainly it will have been an Intercity service under BR so on privitisation it will have become part of the Intercity West Coast Franchise and thus part of Virgin Trains. The ferry is of course provided by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company so is nothing to do with the railway but I believe having a TOC associated is a conceit to make it appear in timetables and fares data.

Open to correction however!
 

krus_aragon

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Will it be affected when VT lose the franchise for WCML ?
Holyhead ferries are still marked AW on Realtime Trains, as the same operator code is now used for TfW. So I expect it's a case of whether the operator code is changed for the next WCML operator.
 

krus_aragon

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Almost certainly it will have been an Intercity service under BR so on privitisation it will have become part of the Intercity West Coast Franchise and thus part of Virgin Trains. The ferry is of course provided by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company so is nothing to do with the railway but I believe having a TOC associated is a conceit to make it appear in timetables and fares data.

Open to correction however!
My 1993/94 timetable shows the boat trains only operate to/from Lancaster, with no InterCity service indicated.
 

MarlowDonkey

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Obviously VT dont use Heysham for trains; nearest station for them being Lancaster.

The rail connection is just a local service to and from Lancaster.

In the summer, you can also travel to the Isle of Man in a fast ferry from Liverpool Pier Head.
 

Journeyman

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Holyhead ferries are still marked AW on Realtime Trains, as the same operator code is now used for TfW. So I expect it's a case of whether the operator code is changed for the next WCML operator.

Codes aren't updated very often. GR is still used for LNER services, and GNER is long gone - since then we've had four operators, and the code has never been changed.
 

driver9000

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Almost certainly it will have been an Intercity service under BR so on privitisation it will have become part of the Intercity West Coast Franchise and thus part of Virgin Trains. The ferry is of course provided by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company so is nothing to do with the railway but I believe having a TOC associated is a conceit to make it appear in timetables and fares data.

Open to correction however!

It's been a Provincial/Regional Railways for as long as I can remember. It was usually 101s in the 1990s. Not sure why the ferry is marked with the VT operator code.
 

ainsworth74

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Sorry to clarify I meant the ferry link may well have been under Intercity not the service to Heysham Port by rail itself.
 

swt_passenger

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There’s a bit of a pattern to this, the former Sealink ferries to the Isle of Wight (from Portsmouth Hbr and Lymington Pier stations) show as operated by SW. But ferries from Cowes, although appearing in journey planners, don’t run from a railway location so don't seem to get the same treatment.

I’d go with the suggestion above it’s just a simple trick to get them into planners and station departure boards etc.
 

yorkie

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Codes aren't updated very often. GR is still used for LNER services, and GNER is long gone - since then we've had four operators, and the code has never been changed.
Indeed; 'LM' is still the TOC code for West Midlands Trains being another example.

Also services operated by GTR which are branded "Southern", "Gatwick Express" or "Great Northern" use old TOC codes for the former separate TOCs that no longer exist.

Changing a code is probably a bigger deal now than ever; if a code changes then a lot of systems would need to be updated accordingly!! I know of a few people who would have some extra work to do if any TOC code does change!
 

Saperstein

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Indeed; 'LM' is still the TOC code for West Midlands Trains being another example.

Also services operated by GTR which are branded "Southern", "Gatwick Express" or "Great Northern" use old TOC codes for the former separate TOCs that no longer exist.

Changing a code is probably a bigger deal now than ever; if a code changes then a lot of systems would need to be updated accordingly!! I know of a few people who would have some extra work to do if any TOC code does change!

Indeed, the other one being LE for Greater Anglia. Not even sure what LE stood for. Something Eastern?

Saperstein.
 

krus_aragon

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While it's true that operator codes are rather set in aspic and aren't updated when franchises change hands, it still leaves the question of why VT was originally allocated to the Heysham ferry.
 

smsm1

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Changing a code is probably a bigger deal now than ever; if a code changes then a lot of systems would need to be updated accordingly!! I know of a few people who would have some extra work to do if any TOC code does change!
I'm one of those people, however it does add pain such as unable to properly brand the split of what was London Midland. If a separate lookup was included in the data of operator code -> branding (name, url, text colour, background colour, etc), then it would reduce such work.
 

Bletchleyite

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I'm one of those people, however it does add pain such as unable to properly brand the split of what was London Midland. If a separate lookup was included in the data of operator code -> branding (name, url, text colour, background colour, etc), then it would reduce such work.

Yes, this resulted in a load of fairly pointless IT work. Exceptions are expensive; it would have been better to create a second code for "WMR" identified services.
 
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